Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Sneak peek #5 - A book set in a city that has hosted the Olympics

Listopia link: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Here's a list of cities that have hosted the modern Olympics: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/c...

This is what I found on my TBR. I'm going off of book summaries or general knowledge for these.

The Toymakers by Robert Dinsdale (London)
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (London and Paris)
Cinder by Marissa Meyer (Beijing ... well, New Beijing)
Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel (Montreal)

Basically every book by Michael Connelly is set in Los Angeles.

Here is a list of books that take place in Oslo.

Oslo, where I live, is the capital of Norway, organized the 1952 Olympics (winter)

https://www.goodreads.com/places/3642...

I think I am starting to read Anne Holts series about Hanne Wilhelmsen, starting with Blind Goddess. It have been at my TBR list for a while

I don't know if this is even possible, but I'm going to try to go the extra mile and read a book that takes place in a city that hosted the Olympics and takes place in the same year that city hosted the Olympics.

Where’s the linky thing???

Mary Leigh wrote: "Where’s the linky thing???"

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Has New York hosted the Olympics? It's not on the list of cities.

No, the Olympics were never in NYC, so a book set in NYC would not count here.

Lake Placid, NY, has hosted twice. Some people get NY & NYC confused. There’s a whole big state up here north of NYC!! :-)

Just a list:

Albertville
Amsterdam
Antwerp
Athens
Atlanta
Barcelona
Beijing
Berlin
Buenos Aires
Calgary
Chamonix
Cortina d'Ampezzo
Dakar
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Grenoble
Helsinki
Innsbruck
Lake Placid
Lausanne
Lillehammer
London
Los Angeles
Melbourne
Mexico City
Montreal
Moscow
Munich
Nanjing
Negano
Oslo
Paris
Pyeongchang
Rio de Janeiro
Rome
Salt Lake City
Sapporo
Sarajevo
Singapore
Seoul
Sochi
Squaw Valley
St. Louis
St. Moritz
Stockholm
Sydney
Tokyo
Turin
Vancouver

Thanks, Nadine. My mind went to NYC because the prompt says city. I didn't know Lake Placid was in New York. I actually don't know where a lot of these cities are. I should brush up on my geography!

Inger wrote: "Oslo, where I live, is the capital of Norway, organized the 1952 Olympics"

The WINTER Olympics were in Oslo, the Summer Olympics were organized by Helsinki that year, the smallest city and country that has ever hosted them.

This sounds like an amazing prompt to start January off with.

Khristina wrote: "Just a list:

Albertville
Amsterdam
Antwerp
Athens
Atlanta
Barcelona
Beijing
Berlin
Buenos Aires
Calgary
Chamonix
Cortina d'Ampezzo
Dakar
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Grenoble
Helsinki
Innsbruck
Lake Pl..."

That list includes some cities that haven't hosted them yet, like Dakar.

Tytti wrote: "Inger wrote: "Oslo, where I live, is the capital of Norway, organized the 1952 Olympics"

The WINTER Olympics were in Oslo, the Summer Olympics were organized by Helsinki that year, the smallest ci..."

Sorry. Fixed it ;-)

So far I am quite liking these prompts & thank you to Sara from saving me having to brave evil facebook lol.

I'll admit I'm impatiently waiting for the full list rather than having them one by one but no complaints about the prompts released so far...

Inger wrote: "Tytti wrote: "Inger wrote: "Oslo, where I live, is the capital of Norway, organized the 1952 Olympics"

The WINTER Olympics were in Oslo, the Summer Olympics were organized by Helsinki that year, t..."

Thanks :-) It was such an important year for us, not only because of the Olympics but also because the massive war reparations to the USSR were finally paid that year, so a sigh of relief could be heard around the nation, and Armi Kuusela was chosen as the first-ever Miss Universe. Though rationing still continued...

When I first saw the prompt my thought was it has to be a summer Olympics city to keep with it being a summer Olympic year. Looking at the list, though, just trying to find a winter city book would be a challenge. Innsbruck, Vancouver, and Oslo seem to be the most likely candidates, but I definitely don't have anything that I know would fit. I'm tempted to try just to stop myself from choosing a random London book.

Shelley wrote: "When I first saw the prompt my thought was it has to be a summer Olympics city to keep with it being a summer Olympic year. Looking at the list, though, just trying to find a winter city book would..."

Paris has hosted the summer Olympics. I'm sure there are many books that take place in Paris. I really like Paris

I’ve got so many books I really want to read, all set in Olympic cities, I don’t know how I will choose one!!!

Inspector Imanishi Investigates (Tokyo)
Rivers of London (London, obv)
The Good Son (Seoul)
Last Night in Montreal (Montreal, obv)
An American Marriage (Atlanta)
Pretty Girls (Atlanta)
The High Window (LA)
The Redbreast (Oslo)

And those are just the books I’m super excited about. I’ve got lots more on my TBR that would work.

Every time I settle on one, I think “but I really want to read that other one too!!”

A few fantasy books set in London:
Kraken (China Mieville)
Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman)
London Falling (Paul Cornell)
Midnight Riot (Ben Aaronovitch)

Kraken/Neverwhere both share the premise of "ordinary guy falls down the rabbit hole of secret supernatural dealings in London." London Falling and Midnight Riot (also called Rivers of London) are more police-oriented, similar to the Dresden Files.

A couple more from my TBR:
The Wolves of Paris (Daniel Mannix)
Dog Boy (Eva Hornung) - Moscow

Rivers of London and Midnight Riot are the same book, right?

Kraken was great and I recommend it to anyone who likes urban fantasy with huge ladleful of crazysauce. The audiobook was great. The Neverwhere audiobook was great, too! But Kraken was crazier. :-)

Nadine wrote: "Rivers of London and Midnight Riot are the same book, right?

Yes, dunno why US felt need to change the name

Katy wrote: "I don't know if this is even possible, but I'm going to try to go the extra mile and read a book that takes place in a city that hosted the Olympics and takes place in the same year that city hoste..."

Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (a. k. a. J. K. Rowling) is set during the London Olympics.

There's an entire series of romance novels by Natalie Ann set in Lake Placid. It's definitely the "where the Olympics were held" Lake Placid, NY because several side characters mention it throughout the series, and the nearby Mirror Lake is mentioned.

This prompt could be a challenge on it's own!

Mary Leigh wrote: "Where’s the linky thing???"


Sorry! Our internet was down at work this morning so I was opening the thread on my phone. I hadn't had a chance to backtrack and add in the list link :) But thank you to Ellie for jumping in with it!

Linda wrote: "This prompt could be a challenge on it's own!"
Yes, I'm thinking of trying to find one book for each continent the Olympics have been held in (set in the Olympic host city.)

And no one has suggested Lysistrata by Aristophanes yet? :)

Ninth House . by Leigh Bardugo (LA)

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Mexico City)

I think I changed my mind and I want to read something that takes place in Athens. I don't know that I've ever read anything that takes place in Greece (besides the classic plays that I had to read in school).

I put this one on the Listopia: I read Running by Cara Hoffman last year and I really liked it. It’s set in Athens (in the 1970s I think, can’t remember now).

A few options on my TBR:

- The Guest Cat - Tokyo
- A Tale for the Time Being - Tokyo
- Magic Bites series - post-apocalypse Atlanta
- Gods of Jade and Shadow - Mexico City

Shelley wrote: "When I first saw the prompt my thought was it has to be a summer Olympics city to keep with it being a summer Olympic year. Looking at the list, though, just trying to find a winter city book would..."

The Solitude of Prime Numbers (La solitudine dei numeri primi) by Paolo Giordano is set in Turin, host of the 2006 Winter Olympics.

I probably missed it since I just quickly glanced through these messages, but if you like Michael Connelly and the Harry Bosch books, not to mention Mickey Haller, these would fit. There are so many books set in Los Angeles. I'm going to wait to see what mine will be for this prompt.

For this one I will read something different from my "normal" go-to genres. City of God takes place in Rio

Since Tokyo is hosting the Olympics in 2020, this will be a good prompt if you're planning to read any manga next year.

Tokyo has also hosted the Olympics already in 1964, so no reason to wait until the end of the year.

I'm going to read If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha, which is set in Seoul. It comes out in April!

The Red address book for Stockholm probably use that have been meaning to read

I think I will use this as a chance to read something, ideally in translation, from a place I haven't read before (or at least, not much) but won't be impossible to find options for. Narrows down my list of possibilities a bit:
Antwerp
Athens
Barcelona - The Shadow of the Wind
Berlin
Buenos Aires - Things We Lost in the Fire
Chamonix
Innsbruck
Mexico City - Signal to Noise
Montreal
Moscow
Munich
Oslo - Blind Goddess
Rio de Janeiro - O Cortiço ("The Slum")
Sarajevo
Sochi
Stockholm
Turin - The Solitude of Prime Numbers

Nadine wrote: "Rivers of London and Midnight Riot are the same book, right?"

Frogli wrote: "Yes, dunno why US felt need to change the name"

Yep. I dunno about needing to change it, but I love the name Midnight Riot so I'm glad they did.

I read Signal to Noise in 2019 for the #ownvoices book set in Mexico or Central America prompt for BookRiot and absolutely loved it, it's set in Mexico City (1968 Summer Olympics) and it's a perfect book to read if you love the show Stranger Things!

also, for true crime/history lovers: City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris and Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris both take place in Paris

some montreal options i'd love to suggest, for a bit of canadian content :)

• Heather O'Neill: Lullabies for Little Criminals and The Girl Who Was Saturday Night take place there. o'neill's The Lonely Hearts Hotel is really, really good, and is also set in montreal, but not 100%. the story takes the characters to NYC for a little bit. but the majority is montreal. (not sure how strict things are with this prompt.)

• Saleema Nawaz: Bone & Bread is very good - it also falls in to the 'mostly set' in montreal category. a slight bit is in ottawa, but the majority is montreal.

• Claire Holden Rothman: The Heart Specialist, Lear's Shadow, and My October

• Mordecai Richler: St. Urbain's Horseman, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz

• Rawi Hage: Cockroach

• Zoe Whittall: Bottle Rocket Hearts

• (for fans of Station Eleven) Emily St. John Mandel: Last Night in Montreal

some vancouver options :)


• The Jade Peony, by Wayson Choy

• The Beggar's Garden, by Michael Christie (connected short stories)

• Stanley Park, by Timothy Taylor

• The Conjoined, by Jen Sookfong Lee

• Y, by Marjorie Celona

• One Good Hustle, by Billie Livingston

• The Man Game, by Lee Henderson

I have a few books on my TBR pile but I'm mainly interested in reading The Silent Patient A Tale of Two Citiesor The Martian Chronicles

I noticed that someone added The Martian Chronicles to the list, and that takes place on Mars. I'm assuming that was an accident? Can it be removed?

Oh man, I kind of want to do a side challenge and read a book from every Olympic city...

Jai wrote: "I have a few books on my TBR pile but I'm mainly interested in reading The Silent Patient A Tale of Two Citiesor The Martian Chronicles"


Why the Martian Chronicles?

Lullabies for Little Criminals - takes place in Montreal

Denise Cameron wrote: "I noticed that someone added The Martian Chronicles to the list, and that takes place on Mars. I'm assuming that was an accident? Can it be removed?"

Now I'm wondering how the Olympics would work on Mars with its' lesser gravity. Maybe we'd be getting six revolutions on ice skating jumps.